Apparatus for treating textile materials



APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Sept. 21, 1929 ch k DaWiHQ INVENTOR (w ATTORNEY Patented May 10, 1932 UNET'ED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES DEWITTE, 0F BRUSSELS, BELGIUM APPARATUS FOR TREATING TEXTILE MATERIALS Application filed September 21, 1929, Serial No. 394,337,'and in Belgium September 25,1928.

My invention relates to the apparatuses which are used for bleaching, dyeing, finishing or otherwise treating textile materials, from vegetable, animal or artificial origin in the form of hanks, or fabrics for example and more especially to the apparatus of that kind in which the liquid of treatment is put into circulation in a vat containing the materials to be treated.

Its main object is to provide means in order to'increase the quantity of the materials which are treated in a single operation in a vat having given dimensions Whilst keeping favorable technical conditions from the point of view of the circulation of the liquid, of the concentration of the liquid and of the action p of the latter on the materials to be treated.

A further object is to reduce the numerous manipulations which are necessary in the systems which are now in use to the single operation of suspending the hanks or fabrics to supports on'which they can, be kept till after the complete treatment so as to avoid supplementary manipulations between the several operations or treatments. Y

And another object is to simplify the construction of the apparatus in reducing to a minimum the number and the complication of the different constituting elements.

With these objects in view, the invention essentially consists in the special combinations and arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and ascertained and pointed out in the appended claims. I 7

Referring to the annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a cross-section through an apparatus which is adapted for treating textile materials,'for example, a dyeing or bleaching apparatus provided with the usual devices for the circulation of the liquid. In this figure the supports for thematerial have been shown but the material has not been represented for sake of clearness. i

Fig. 2 is a separate view in perspective of the supporting frame of the materials to be treated as usedin the apparatus shownon Flgure 1.

. Fig. 3 is a section through the great axis of the apparatus and showing the arrangement of the supports forthe material in the grooves of the supportingframe.

have been suspended to movable supports maintained at their upper and at their lower part in vertical grooves of frames adapted to be arranged in the vat of treatment. The free disposition of the'materials to be treated on perforated bottoms presents the drawback hanks or of fabrics, a settling on the bottomis produced which interferes not only with'the quality. of the products but also with the repartition and with the uniform and regular action of the liquid of treatment. This produces the entan'gling of the threads and unbleached stains. Moreover the suspension of the materials in the vat of treatment by means of movable supports which are juxtaposed at the upper part and at the lower part of the apparatus in vertical grooves ofsupporting frames, has the inconvenience offorming between the diiferent pathsof the material, for instance, between the successive folds of a that, in the case of materials in the form of fabric band or between the hanks, lost spaces which are equal to thediameter of the movable supports, which diminishes considerably the quantity of materials adaptedto be treated in the apparatus in one operation; 7

Moreover as only a small quantity of ma- 7 terial can be treated at the'sametime, a considerable expense of labor is necessary.

Those inconvenienc'es are removed according to the presentinvention in view of the fact that it is made use in combination with the vat, in which the liquid of treatment is caused to circulate, of a supporting frame provided on its longitudinal inner walls with aplurality of horizontal superposed grooves in whichsupporting rods can be slid through the open extremity of the frame or in holding them obliquely. Thoserods are introduced successively in i the superposed horizontal grooves of the frame, keep the thread or the fabric hanging in vertical, parallel and adjacent layers, so that the different vertical layers of the material to be treated, or at least groups of layers can eventually get into contact, the thickness of the main part of the supports being compensated by the fact that instead of being juxtaposed, they are superposed and slightly displaced one to each other in the horizontal direction. according to the 7 thickness of the supported materials.

In Figure 1, theapparatus shown as an ex ample, comprises a vat in concrete 1 (or in any other suitable material) which forms on its longitudinal internal faces bearingsurfaces 2 for a movable frame 3 wh ch for inare connected by two transverse beams 6 and The beam6 which is arranged at the rear side of the'frame is of the same height as longitudinal beams, whilst the beam 7 whichis arranged in front of the frame is not so nigh so as to keep free the end of the grooves 5.

,Supports 8 in wood or in another substance for. instance of a round form may be introduced in'the groovesfi in order to sustainthematefial 9 to be treated. filings 10 are fixedin each of the corners of the upperportion of the frame. in order to allow its lifting by means of any lifting device not shown.

The vat l isprovided with the usual means Lforthe circulation of the liquid of treat 'ment. In the example shown, on't'he bottom, supports 11 which sustain plates 12 pierced with openings 13 are arranged. Under the false bottom formed by the plates is 'arran-gedfa transverse pipe l l on which {perforated pipes for the liquid of treatment are branched; Thisdistribution system is cQnnecle'd by a P e 16 to ae nf r 0021-. 'by a pipe '18 to pipes 19 formed in the wall of the vat 1 above the movable frame ,3. Those pipes 19 open in the vat by openings 20 arranged on the whole periphery of the vat, The pipe 18 is in communication witha pipe 21 for the liquids to ber ecovered yOI' for the introduction of the bath.

22 and 23 are placedin the pipe 18 in order to Valves allow the liquid sucked from the; vat l by thep ump 17 to be sent either again in the vat,' when the valve is opened and the valve closed, so as toobtain a continuous sel (not shown) connected tothe pipe 21 when the valve 22 is closed, whilst the valve 23 is opened.

The vat 1 can be provided, as usual, with a steam pipe 24 in which a valve 25 is inserted, with a drain valve 26 arranged in a corner of the Vat and with a cover 27.

The apparatus thus constructed is used in the following manner.

The movable frame 4 is placed on four pillars (not, shown) of a suitable height. The materials to be treated (hanks, or fabrics for example are arranged on the supports 8 and the latter are introduced through the "o'pehfac'e of the frame *8 in the grooves 5. A first support 8 carryingthe material 9 to be treated "suspended as shown on Fig. 2, is introduced, in the lowest groove'h of the frame 3 (F 3) and is slid till the end of the groove against the beam 6 of the trains;

second similar s'n-pporjt carrying also material to be treated is 'aftei'vva'r'fds introdtfced in the second groove arranged immediately above the first and is slid as close as possible to the beam 6 of the frame; successively "a support 8 is introdncedii' eac-ho'f the upper grooves till each of the Man has received 'a support, afterwards a new support is introduced in the lowest groov (Fig, and it is admitted on that an an the frame is full. It is easy tounderstand that nndr those conditions, as shown on Fig. 3, the distance compr sed between twosupports 8 uxta1imsed in the same groove 5, for instance in the lower groove of the framefis occupied by the material fsus'pendec'l *on the supports which are-Introduced in the different superposed grooves with which the frame is prdvi'ded. "other words, there is no lost space nausea between two stipp'orts 8 arranged in "ifs-nae horizontal groove 5, viz situated in the hoi' izo'lital alane; thi s ace is occupied by the material pended on the seaports s which are an in the upper grooves "and which are arranged in vertical planes displaced on'e toca'c'h other in the direction of the 'roov'esof-a quantity corresponding to "the thickness for example of the material or of anyoth'er "suitable 'qi'ran'tity. 7

\Vhen themovable framehas been-"com of a crane'or of a "travelling bridge "(not sho'wn) which conducts it above "the "vat 1 of 'tre'atme'ntand' causes it to descend inf that The v'at, 'i's afterwards filfetl liquid;

li uid is ut into circulation i'n thatwa hem top to bottom through thejmat'eri'al -9con-* tained in thev'at' or inthe opposite direction according to i the sense of rotation of the pump.

circulation in the vat, orto a recovering vesliquid is exli'austed by the valve'26. I f

case where it must be used again, instead of opening the valve 26, the valve 22 is closed and the valve 23 is opened so that under the action of the pump 17 the liquid is sent through the pipe 21 into a special'vessel (not shown) from which it will be again returned in the vat 1 for a new operation.

When the treatment is completed, the apparatus is emptied the material remains during a certain period of time in the vat in order to drip. The crane is afterwards brought above the frame 4 and removes the latter and the supports 8 by means of the hooks 10. The frame is placed again on four pillars in order to finish the dripping, and

the supports 8 which are still loaded with their'hanks are removed from the frame in an inverted order than that into which they had been introduced and pass to the dryer without any other manipulation. The materials are in that way, rinsed, bleached, acidulated etc. and dried on the same supports on which they have been placed during the different operations, those supports being in materials which are adapted to resist the physical and chemical treatments hereabove indicated.

It is obvious that the hereabove indicated method of inserting the supporting rods in the grooves of the frame has only been given by way of example. For instance, insteadof placing the first supporting rod of each group in the lowest groove, and then superposing successively the supporting rods in the superposed grooves it would be facultative to place this first rod in the highest groove and then successively the other supporting rods in the lower grooves, without P departing from the nature of the invention. What I claim is: 1. In an apparatus for the treatment of textile materials in the form of hanks or of fabrics by causing the liquid of treatment to circulate, a vat of treatment, means for causing the liquid of treatment to circulate in the vat, supports for the materials to be treated on which those materials are freely suspended in vertical layers and means whereby those supports are juxtaposed in series in the vat at different levels whereby the vertical frame open at one end and adapted to be placed in the vat of treatment, this frame being provided on the inner faces of its longitudinal beams, with horizontal superposed grooves for the supports of the materials to be treated, whereby those supports when slid successively in those superposed grooves cause the juxtaposition by groups of the vertical layers of materials.

3. In an apparatus for the treatment of textile materials in vertical layers by causing the liquid of treatment to circulate, a vat of treatment, bearing surfaces formed on the internal longitudinal faces of that vat, means for distributing and causing the liquid to I circulate in that vat, a movable frame adapted to be arranged in that vat on the bearing surfaces, this frame being provided on the inner faces of its longitudinal beams with.

horizontal superposed grooves, supports for the materials to be treated on which those materials are freel suspended, those supports being adapte to be slid in the superposed grooves of the frame at different levels, whereby the materials to be treated are suspended in the frame at different levels and in the form of juxtaposed vertical layers substantially in contact one with each other.

4:. In an apparatus for the treatment of textile materials in vertical layers, by causing the liquid of treatment to circulate, a vat of treatment, this vat being provided on its inner longitudinal faces with horizontal bearing surfaces, means for distributing and causing the liquid of treatment to circulate in the vat, a movable supporting frame adapted to rest on the bearing surfaces of the vat, this frame comprising two longitudinal beams provided with superposed horizontal grooves and two beams arranged at the extremities and having different heights, one of those beams being arranged above the grooves provided in the longitudinal beams, and suports for the material to be treated adapted to be slid in those grooves, whereby, in view of the superposition of the said supports by series in the successively superposed grooves of the frame the material is suspended in vertical juxtaposed layers substantially in contact one with each other.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

CHARLES DEWITTE. 

